


Color me yours

by orphan_account



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 11:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1225255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The events of the Narada bring something new to light on Bones and Jim's relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Color me yours

When Spock finally let go of Jim's throat, he was panting and he looked shocked. It made Bones realize he had done nothing but stand there, and he had no idea how he was supposed to feel at that moment.

“Doctor, I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command based on the fact that I have been... emotionally compromised." It was a visible struggle to get it out and it wasn't just because he was breathless, it was hurting him in more ways than one and nobody could blame him.

"Please note the time and date in the ship's log." He finished before walking out without another glance at anyone. Leonard could swear he saw him lower his head even more when he walked past his father.

"Well, congratulations, Jim. Now we've got no captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him."

The kid was still working to even out his breathing and his neck was red. Too red, making Bones wince just from looking at it.

"Yeah, we do."

"What?"

"Pike made him First Officer." Sulu explained as Jim walked over and sat on the chair. _The_ chair.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Thanks for the support." 

The sarcasm was obvious and justified but what really hit was what was beyond it. It took a second to click that maybe Jim was upset because he'd sided with Spock earlier. And that maybe it didn't really help to say 'you've gotta be kidding me' when his boyfriend had just been thrown into captaincy in the worst possible circumstances.

He tried making up for it, softening his tone with Jim even as he tried to talk him out of his tactical decisions. Spock eventually joined them on the bridge and they decided to cooperate, god knows how that was going to work out. 

He watched amused as Jim planted a way too strong clap on Spock's shoulder as reassurance and followed him out of the bridge, leading him to his own quarters, pointing out that Jim had none of his to go to because he wasn't supposed to be on that ship.

He stood in the middle of the room, watching Jim plop down on his bed.  
"You hurt him."

Jim propped himself up on his elbows and scowled.

"I'm sorry, what? Who had whose hands on whose throat, again?"

"I'm not saying it was justified but you pushed him too far, Jim. I don't know what your idea is, throwing him off like that, but-"

"Trust me, there is a point to it." He interrupted.

"Fine, but you didn't have to pull at it like that."

"Yes, I did. And I sure am loving this new trend of yours to defend him over me. It's starting to look like you're _in love_ with him." He rolled his eyes along with the words for the last bit, playing it off as a childish joke.

"Aren't you?" He decided to do it bluntly.

"What?" Jim meant for it to be excessively dramatic but it came out choked and broken and then they were staring at each other in silence. Bones had his lips pursed and a concerned look on his face and Jim just looked mortified.

Leonard turned his mind inside out trying to figure out how to explain to him that it was okay, that they were both in this and that they could figure it out. Jim spoke first.

"Do you... do you still-"

"Love you? Yes, Jim. Do you-"

"Yes, Bones, of course. I just..."

"Love him too."

Jim nodded, defeated, slumping back on the bed. Bones finally crossed the room and sat beside him, running a hand through the dirty-blond hair.

"Me too, Jim." He sighed and helped him to his lap, where Jim curled up with his arms around Bones' waist.

He told him about what happened on Delta Vega, then, voice muffled by where his face was pressing into Bones' shirt. He told him about older Spock and about the mind meld. What he saw, what the three of them meant to each other in another life, it seemed clear now. Sure, they were far from being at that point, the circumstances were different and they were different people. But it felt right to think of it falling into place like that, regardless of any bumps on their way there.  
They decided they'd do something about it after Jim got back from the Narada with Spock, otherwise Bones wouldn't be able to just let them go alone, it was better to wait for things to be fixed and for everyone to cool off afterwards. If they ever returned, Bones thought, but didn't say it and tried to shake it from his own mind before Jim could guess.

***

He vaguely registered Spock walking past him as he ran to Jim when he stepped off the transporter pad with Pike, who Bones carried to medbay immediately, pushing any other thoughts to the background until his work was done, as Jim and Spock did on the bridge.

Being away from them while they were together was making him a little anxious. He wasn't jealous, he was on much better terms with Spock than Jim was from the start, and it was good for them to have some bonding time. And it was important that they could figure out their way around each other as Captain and First Officer before he and Jim could burden Spock with the thought of anything else. But, at the same time, he couldn't wait.

***

They found Spock in his room at the Academy campus, before the ceremony to relieve Pike of command and make Jim captain. They were met with a quirked up eyebrow and the hint of a smile as he opened the door to let them in.

Bones let Jim go first, since he had quite a list of things to go over and apologize for. Once all apologies were accepted and returned, Jim and Leonard took a deep breath in and held hands tightly. They glanced between each other and Spock one too many times and he simply had to ask what all the anxiety was due to, seeing as they had just gone over every possible matter there could be to discuss between them. They smiled at each other and then across the room, too warm a smile for Spock not to find it odd and he was about to say something else when they decided to blurt out that they were in love with him. It stunned him silent and that gave them time to explain themselves, even if not very clearly.

"We're, we're still together, as you know, we just... we..." Leonard tried to settle it after a few seconds, after the jumble of words they'd thrown at him in an attempt to illustrate where they were going with that conversation.

"We wanna be with you too." Jim finished for him and they both felt a surge of blood to their cheeks.

"If you want to, of course, we're not tryin'a force you into anything, and we didn't mean'a make you uncomfortable-"

"Doctor, you have the most curious tendency to fall back to your naturally slurred accent when you're flustered."

"He does, doesn't he? It's so cute." Jim agreed with a smile.

"I do find it to be... endearing." Spock's face tinged green.

"That so?" Bones said with a smirk.

"Indeed, Doctor."

"Oh, call me, Leonard, will ya? Please."

"Leonard." He tried it, for the first time since they met, and blushed deeper. They were both hoping a flustered Spock was going to be a regular thing in their lives from then on.

They took hesitant steps to stand closer to him, leaning in to kiss him, each of them at one of his cheeks. And if they were starting to turn back to their normal color, that gesture brightened them right up again. 

Later that evening, after the ceremony, they all sat together on a bench by the bay, with Spock in the middle and the other two men's heads resting on his shoulders. He told them about meeting his counterpart, and what he'd said about all they were supposed to accomplish together and what they could become if they kept each other close. 

Jim set a hand over Spock's in response and tilted his head up to kiss his lips. Bones mirrored the gesture, giving his hand a gentle squeeze and his lips a soft press of his own, making that color that was becoming familiar make its way to Spock's neck and cheeks again.

It was just theirs, and they could definitely get used to that.

 


End file.
